The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 13, 1899, Page 4

THE SAN FRANGISCO CALL, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1899. MONDAY... JOHN D. SPRECKELS, Proprietor. Address All Communications to W. S. LEAKE, Manager. PUBLICATION OFFICE......Market and Third Sts. S, F Telephone Malin 1868. ROOMS... 217 to 221 Stevenson Street Telephone Main 1874. DELIVERED BY CARRIERS, 15 CENTS PER WEEK. Eingle Coples, 5 cents. Terms by Mail, Including Postage: i DITORIAL DAILY CALL (including Sunday Call), one year. .86.00 DAILY CALL (inciuding Sunday Call), § month: . 2.00 DAILY CALL (izcluding Sunday Call), 8 months B DAILY CALL—By Single Month 65c EUNDAY CALL One Year., 1.50 WEEKLY CALL One Year. 1.00 All postmasters are suthorized to recef fons. pf Bample coples will be forwarded when riquested. OAKLAND OFFIiCE... ..908 Breadway C. GEORGE KROGNESS, Menager Foreign Advertising, Marquette Building, Chicago. NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT: €. C. CARLTON........ . Herald Square NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: PERRY LUKENS JR.. ..29 Tribune Building CHICAGO NEWS STANDS. Sherman House; P. O. News Co.; Great Northern Hotel; Fremont House; Auditorium Hotel. NEW YORK NEWS STANDS. Waldort-Astorfa Hotel; A. Brentano, 3L Unlon Bquare; Murray Hill Hotel. Et WASHINGTON (D. C.) OFFICE .-Wellington Hotel J. L. ENGLISH, Correspondent. e AMUSEMENTS. ambra—"'A I« 00 and Thea afternoon and AUCTION SALES. at 7:45 p. m., fuesday, November 14, ward street. mber 14, at 11 o'clock, Cholce v, November 14, at 12 mber’ 16, at 11 corner Market at 12 o'clock, TIGHT MONEY AND THE GOVERN- MENT. HE present feature in Wa! the banks tc hich The s to ma air to continue for some that the a castiron reserve under faw anciers say em {rom increas. ances, which preveats th of eir Joans to meet the nd are agitating Congressional action in re- w to ease the situa- current expansion to the currency, with the v It has been suggested that the Government $100,000,000 in bonds, which would immediately ease the circulation to this amount, but the Gov- ent retorts that whatever stringency exists is not maintenance of the reserves, but to due to the overspecuiation on the part of the public, and that it wvise tive chestnuts out does not intend to pull Wal 1l ¥ of the street nd there thg matter rests. There is a good deal of truth on both sides of the Both are right to a certain extent. It ks are hampered in their loans ain their legal reserves, nk without a sufficient s a bubble liable to burst at any moment; and it is equally plain that the circulation should be so arranged that it can respond to the demands of trade specul fire controversy. is true that the by their obligation to mair any tyro can see that a b whenever occasion requires, else something is apt to give way. stic and expands and con- tracts precisely like the mercury in the thermometer, and if it encounters a castiron reserve in periods of expansion it is unable to find relief where it has the best right to expect it. In the present case the Gov- that the money market is being artifi- tlated, and indeed it is charged that par- ties ‘are borrowing large amounts at high rates and then locking up the money, which they do not want to use themselves, so that nobody else can use it By this means great sums are withdrawn from circu- rates of interest are maintained ances the Government Trade is ¢ Under these circum to interfere Meanwhile trade continues to expand. Wool, cot- ton, pigiron, hides and leather, boots and shoes and many minor commodities are quoted at a further ad- vance, and the end is apparently not yet. If there is any financial suffering on this account outside of Wall street it has not yet manifested itself. There were rumors last week that a New York bank was in trouble, but the clearances for the week showed a gdin of 36.8 per cent over the same. week in 1808 and the failures were only 157, against 211 last year. Of all the important cities in the country Omaha was the only one to exhibit a loss in clearings, but this town has been doing this on and off for months. Although the New York bank statement for the pre- vious week showed that the averages of the clearing- house banks were below the legal limit the stock market was unruifled and money was comparatively quiet. There was some liquidation in stocks along in the middle of the week, but it was supposed to be for account of those specuiators who had become tired of carrying them in the face of a high money market and had no bearing on the general prosperity of the | country. At the close of the week, indeed, there was moderate rally on the covering of shorts and favor- 2ble reports about the money market, both good signs of inherent strength. Perhaps the ease with which the advances in the great staples were main- tained by the manufacturers had something to do with this, though there were signs that the enormous demand for goods, which has prevailed all over the country for a year, was becoming satisfied, though still more or less behind the production. The tables have been turned in this respect, for metals, which for months led all advances, are weakening, while manufactured goods, such as textile fabrics, which lagged behind, are now distinguished by great firm- ness and activity. The gross situation, therefore, remains unchanged. Leading financial and mercantile observers in the East see nothing to indicate any halt in the country's prosperity for months to come. Barring the tight- ness of the money market all conditions point to further expansion in trade. Of course it must come to-a halt some time, but the end is not yet in sight. ber 15, at 11 o'clock, | a Trotting Park, Alu. | refuses | OUR MERCHANT MARINE. OME time ago we directed attention to a state- S ment made by Frank L. Neall of Philadelphia before the United States Industrial Commis- sion; to the, effect that the merchant marine of the United States—steam and sail—of 1000 tons gros | ing the American flag and suitable and available for trans-Atlantic or trans-Pacific trade, does not ex- ceed a total of 300,000 tons gross register. The statement is so surprising that doubts have been exp’res.tcd as to its accuracy, and for the pur- pose of confirming it Mr. Neall has since issued an elaborate compilation, giving the rig, name, try of every American steamer or sailing vessel in- icludcd in the terms of his statement. From the lists | given it appears the number of United States vessels 1sunab!e and available for oceanic traffic are: 140 | steamships, with a gross register of 399,425 tons; 52 ships, aggregating 111,433 tons; 14 barks, with a total of 18,870 tons and 88 schooners, having a register of | 115,101, making a total of 644,829 tons. From. that list, however, as Mr. Neall points out, there must be deducted as not intended and in reality unsuitable for the trans-oceanic trade, by reason of having been constructed for coastwise or near-by commerce, 169 vessels, having an aggregate register of 348,644 tons; leaving as suitable and available for trans-oceanic traffic only 125 vessels of a gross register of 296,185 tons. Between the tonnage of our merchant marine, suit- able and available for trans-oceanic trade, and the for- | eign commerce of the country, there is an impressive icomrast. Mr. Neall says: | “Surprising as the figures given in my testimony may have appeared, they are indeed an understate- ment of vital facts intimately associated with the con- tinued prosperity of the commercial interests of the United States. The value of the merchandis® ex- | ported by the United States to foreign countries dur | ing the year ending December 31, 1808, was, in round numbers, $1,200,000,000; the value of our imports of foreign merchandise during the same period was roundly stated, $000,000,000, making the sum total of exports and imports for twelve months upward of $1,800,000,000, an aggregate movement of merchan- | dise of the value of $150,000,000 per month.” The aggregate weight of the exports was 30,000,000 tons, while the imports for the same period approxi- mated 7,500,000 tons, making a total of more than To undertake to carry on such a traffic with such a merchant marine as we now possess is much | the same as if a farmer should attempt to take to | market the produce of a large farm in a wheelbarrow. | What further arj required to convince in- | telligent men that the upbuilding of our merchant | marine the pressing of the month. ment needs ¢ of is one most coun ced at | Testifying before the Mason Committee on Manufactures Professor w York says it is merely the craving for : has-been Senatorial | Hart of N the life-giving elements that are taken from the wheat by its ufacture into white flour. | Reports circulated throughout Germany that the | generally believed that the director of the Berlin | Observatory Tas seen fit to publish an official denial. “Hoch, der Kaiser!” WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION ACT IN GREAT BRITAIN. THE [\ CURIOUS law point, which has just been de- | / \ cided by a Scotch court in a case arising under | the workmen's compensation act, has had the | effect of reviving interest in the act itself, and accord- | ingly the public is receiving a good deal of informa- tion concerning the effects of the law, which has now been in operation about a year.. The case under discussion is worth noting as an iilustration of the refinements Scotch Judges can put | upon the technicalities of law. As it comes to us | the story is this: A shipbuilding firm in Glasgow built the hull of a steam vessel and after she was launched towed her to a public dock twenty miles away, near an engine building establishment (having no connection with the shipbuilders), to be fitted with engines. While the engines were being installed an | employe of the engine builders met with an accident, a eye. The question arose whether, under the new law, the engine builders or the shipbuilders were liable for damages. After argument and reargument before the Scottish Court of Appeals it was decided that the shipbuilders were liable and judgment was given | against them—the injured man -being awarded | eighteen shillings a week compensation. The Judge who gave the decision is reported to | have stated that ‘“the injured workman had never | been directly in the employment of the shipbuilders; they never paid him any wages and he was not em- ployed upon the vessel while she was in the ship- building yard at all. * * * Nevertheless, in ac- cordance with the interpretation put upon this extra- ordinary piece of legislation, I feel myself shut up to the conclusion that it is the shipbuilders and not the.engineers who must compensate the man.” An act which compels Judges to such decisions as | that may well be characterized as “an extraordinary piece of legislation,” and it is not surprisng to learn that in many other respects it has perplexing results. Some of its effects have been undoubtedly good. Since they are now responsible for all injuries to their workingmen the employers of Great Britain have been more careful in the selection of employes and more cautious about permitting them to take risks. That policy, however, has been injurious to many workingmen, for it is noted that there has been something like a wholesale discharge from work- shops of men who either by reason of age, deafness, near sightedness or some defect of body are more liable to accidents than the average workingman. The conclusion appears to be that the law is on the | whole a beneficial one, but that it will have to be amended in some respects to fit it to the complexities of ‘modern industrial life. At any rate there is cer- tainly injustice in an act that leads to such decis as that reported from Glasgow. BRITISH CAMPAIGN PLANS. E ISPATCHES from South Africa give such i D meager accounts of the progress of the war | it is not possible to form a satisfactory esti- | mate of the situation at Ladysmith, Kimberley or Mafeking. Enough is known, however, to make it i sure a cnitical period has been reached in the cam- | paign and that if the Boers are to accomplish a notable success, crushing in its effect upon the Brit- ish before General Buller arrives with reinforcements for the beleaguered garrisons, they must strike at once and strike hard. 5 X : : Thus far the fortunes of battle have been on the side of the Transvaal. While they have not captured | register and upward and under twenty years old, fly- | gross | 0“ register, place and date of building and port of regis- | 37,000,000 tons dead weight, or over 3,000,000 tons a | The source of the great American thirst for beer | | | end of the world is due November 15 have been so | in consequence of which he lost the sight of his right | either of the objective points of the first dash of the Kc::mpaign, nor routed or captured a British army, | they have so completely invested the British as to | force General Buller to change the plan of campaign announced at the outbreak of the war and hurry his jmen to the relief of General White as rapidly as | they arrive in Africa. It will be remembered that shortly after the open- ing of hostilities a dispatch from London stated that the troops about to be sent to Africa would not be {landed at Cape Town, nor at Durban, but at Port | Elizabeth, Port Alfred and, East London. While no | authority was given for the.statement, it was in itseli | so reasonable it may . be regarded as fairly well founded. It was believed at the time that General White could easily hold his own, and Buller expected | which he could most eas ly advance on Pretoria, | organize it there and set forth for the capture of the | Boer capital. That expectation has been disap- | pointed. White is so hard pressed that Buller has | had to land his men at Durban and arrange to move | them forward for the'relic 'of Ladysmith at once. | How large a portion of Buller's force will be re- !quired for the purpose of checking the advance of the Boers into Natal cannot be ~estimated. It is expected, however, that twenty-three transports with ‘troops will reach South Africa before the close of this week. If White manages during that time to | hold his own, it is.likely a comparatively small force sent to his relief would have the effect of enabling | him to open his communications with the coast and | the south and thus be virtually safe. Should that be | s0, Buller could then with the major part of his corps | carry out his original intention of using Port Eliza- | beth as a base and after resting his troops and | arranging his plan of march set out in December “ with a well equipped army for the attack on Pretoria. Of the advantages of the route from Port Elizabeth it has been said that while Durban is nearer to the | seat of war, yet to get from it through Natal into the | Transvaal the British would have to cross the steep Drakensberg, all the passes of which are in the hands | of the Boers and are strongly guarded. By the other | route the only serious obstacle in the way of advance is the Orange River, and once beyond that the British would have open plains across which to advance upon Bloemfontein and Pretoria. The time is at hand when the questions involved in the different plans of campaign will have to be set- tled, and it looks now as if the settlement would not | be left wholly to Buller. The Boers may yet force his hand and compel him to risk everything at Dur- | time march of triumph over the plains of Orange State to the capital of the Transvaal. \vlhc army and to vote money to carry on the r in South Africa the Ministry contented itself with king permission to borrow money. Nothing was said about taxes. Since Parliament adjourned, how- ever, there has been a good deal of discussion of the subject, for it is clear the money must be raised at some time and somebody ,will have to pay taxes to provide it: There is to be no hurry in meeting the issue. The London News stated the other day, “The first object | of the Government is to make the war popular.” That : means, of course, the Government will not add any thing to the burdens of the British taxpayer during | the war if by borrowing money it can avoid doing so. | The Chancellor of the Exchequer is reported to have | suggested the possibility of meeting the expenses of | the war out of the ordinary taxation of the year, “ex- | ceptionally increased for that purpose,” but the sug- | gestion seems to have met with little favor. An- | other suggestion that the income tax be increased to BRITISH WAR TAXES. HEN Parliament was summoned to authorize one shilling on the pound and that a tax be levied on | beer has been even less commended.. Such taxes | would be sure to make the war unpopular and dampen | the ardor for conquest. i In this dilemma some strange means for providing | money to pay off the debt that is being contracted | have been put forth. The Westminster Gazette notes | that a good many persons believe the war to be car- ried on not for the benefit of the British people but for that of the gold and diamond miners of South Atrica and for the Uitlanders in the Transvaal. These persons maintain that the cost of the war should be taxed upon the South African beneficiaries. It is argued that the entire revenue needed to make up !lnr the expenditure of the struggle should be made a | charge upon the resources of the Transvaal and be | exacted from that country after the conquest. In commenting upon the proposition the Gazette says: “Though it may not be wise when we are at the beginning of a campaign to anticipate any of the fruits of victory, it is certainly lawful to contemplate | a settlement in which the Uitlanders shall contribute their fair share to the cost of their emancipation. | i i ;ourr:x;zeouskm regard the Transvaal as rich booty hich the Boers will be called upon to disgorge be- cause they have dared to defend their country. If we are going to treat them as honorable foes, and to do ourselves justice as honest people, we need not stop to discuss these monstrous proposals for making the | Beer pay vicariously for the Uitlander. We may be | quite sure, at all events, that this war and the recon- struction after the war will cost a great deal more than the ten millions now required. There will be ample opportunities hereafter for making the Uit- lander pay his share, and the Boer the indemnity | which in all wars, just or unjust, falls on the beaten party.” The issue is one that will have to be treated se- | riously by the Government as soon as Parliament as- sembles. Tt will not be possible to postpone the is- ! sue indefinitely for the purpose of making the war | popular. Somebody will have to pay the cost, and however earnestly the Ministry may try to impose all the burden upon the people of South Africa it is cer- tain the British taxpayer in the end will have to put up the biggest share of it. e em— The dubious “fusion” victory in Nebraska has made, it is said, the nomination of William Jennings Bryan for President absolutely certain. This is one phase of the recent Republican -victory, which gives to Republicans more reason than any other, perhaps, for genuine congratulation. The proposal to secure from American women con- tributions for a British hospital ship has certainly | the dignity of an innovation. It suggests what might American war. SreR Al The new medical director at Agnews Asylum is demonstrating to the dismayed attendants that a “pull” may work both ways. In this instance it very clearly pulls out. 5 It is likely th:}t ex-President Cleveland's duties as professor at Princeton will preclude the possibility of the autumnal hunting trips for which he was famous. The joyful feeling in duckdom can- be 4 imagined. 5 to be able to land his army corps at the point from | | ban and Ladysmith, instead of making a Christmas | the British Ministry to call out the reserves of | But it is not lawful—it would, on the contrary, be | | | | | | | | | present is that now a mining enterprise | up in population during the coming year, | also shows the phenomenon of turning a | capper belt are subjects of constant spec- | half interest in the Yeilow Rose of Texas {mine, last week purchased a Huntington { mill, | rich ledges iIn that district are now being | shipped at large expense to Selb 's. | taken by Frederick King and C. C. Colen, | to the Keswick smelter, | world. | superintendent. ! portant new enterprises in this county is | the Pauper’s Dream | mine for $20.000 after development work { A A 3 | is the scene of lively operations by the have been done by British women in the Spnmsh-‘ i DESERT PROGRESS. OIL BOOM NOT ES, LIFE IN THE MINES. MOTH Throughout the iength and breadth of California_mining enterprises are multi- plying and going forward with an energy never equaled in the history of the State since the early days of placer mining. The difference ‘between those days and the of any sort means the investment of cap- ital, the employment of men and the dis- tribution of money for labor and supplies, Every mining region in the State now looks up and is glad. Up north Del Norte County is shipping copper ore and watch- ing the new development of a number of promising gold and copper properties. Humboldt County has caught the oil boom and is trying to remember how its oil ex- citement of the sixties felt. In Siskiyou County a dozen mining dis- tricts are booming with new developments and the county expects to point to_some big new mines before a great while, Yreka 18 looking forward to a boom as a result of the rapid growth of the mining indus- try. According to the Yreka Journal, “Yreka is gradually coming to the front as one of the richest mining centers on the Pacific Coast, and is likely to double with prospects of showing fully 2500 pop< ulation when the census enumerators commence work next summer.” Near the town a_big dredge will soon be in operation in Yreka Creek, and sev- enteen carloads of machinery and lumber for it are now going in. The dredge pro- poses to work two miles of ground. Yreka racetrack into a gold mine. The old track of the Agricultural Society has been sold for $7000 to a syndicate that will wash it awa ka will be the supply center of an extensive region in which many rich sur- face strikes have recently been made and in which quite a number of quartz mines will be opened up during the coming months. Several big hydraulic proposi- tions are walting for a water supply. The Mountain Copper Company has put its new smelting furnace, No. 5, in opera- tion. It is a third larger than the others. Five new McDougall furnaces are to be erected at once, and the output of this great mine will be largely increased dur- ing the coming year. The unwatering of the Copperopolis mines recently begun, the erection of smeiting plants in Madera and Fresno countles and the development or reopening of many comparatively small copper properties in several coun- tles now going on, several of which are now producing in a small way, increase the promise of a big stride in California’'s copper production during 19090 and for this year as well. Several big deals in the Shasta County ulation and report. It is on the develop- ment of some of these vast stores of cop- per that the growth of the State's copper industry chiefly depends. When capital takes hold of one of these evidently great properties exploration at depth must pre- cede the erection of smelting plants, and probably two years would be as short a as production on a large scale could ched in. Captain de Lamar is ge- r vigorou prospecting his Bully Hill group of mines, and whether or not he erects a smelter near Copper City will depend on the extent of the ore sup- ply found. The first machinery to work the rich tel- luride ores discovered at the head of Cof- fee Creek, Trinity County, will be in- stalled when snow permits in the spring and the experiment will be of interest. George L. Carr, who recently bought a concentrator, engine, etc., for the mine. Selected ore from this and other A number of mining properties in Shasta County have been sold or bonded recently. One was the Reid mine fn Star Gulch, on which a six months’ option at $100,000 was who will ds velop the mine by shipping ore The Central Paclfic Company is apply- ing for patents to a great amount of this big nerthern mineral region. There has been filed in Redding a list of 39,9 of which £584 are in Shasta, 25,611 in Trin- ity and 5800 In Siskiyou County. It is un- derstood that other lists will soon be filed. The mineral lands bill sleeps in Congress. The biggest gold mining operations in the State are naturally along the mother lode and in Nevada County. The invest- ments of capital {n new and old mother- lode properties and in development work and mining plants begun or planned in the past year aggregate millions of dollars. In Amador County especially the deeper mining of old properties is the leading feature., The Kennedy is crowding work on its new three-compartment vertical shaft, de- signed to tap the vein at 3500 feet, and which with crosscuts will represent an in- vestment of several hundred thousand dollars. The shaft is down eight hun- dred feet and is progressing at the rapid rate of twenty-two feet a week. The new deep vertical shaft at the Wild- man-Mahoney is being steadily deepened, Rapld work s going on at the Central Eureka, which s another striking suc- cess in reopening an abandoned mine and putting faith in deep values. On the 1500 level the rich vein, said to average $100 a ton, Is being drifted on both ways, and the rock milled at the Zella. E. C. Voorhies, one of the lucky openers of the great old Gwin, has struck it again in the Lincoln, on which he has been sink- ing for manths. Recently a prospecting crosscut to the west struck a 12-foot vein of $10 rock and again the mother lode jus- tifies faith In it. In the South Eureka, Oneida, Argonaut and other well-known mhwsdslnkms to great depths steadily e of the Morning Star drift mine Hill, Placer County, is one of the interesting recent events of the mining The development of this fam- property was due to the sa- gacity and _ ability of Jacob H. Neff, who has been its manager until now. The Coleman brothers and Mr. Neff have owned a majority of the stock. After a large investment in costly work- ings one of the richest buried channels in that region was struck and the yleld was almost fabulous for years. For about 2000 feet the gravel has a\'erafied from $7 50 to $10 per ton, and large dividends have been pald for years. Its present produc- tion is about $1000 a day. But the channel has turned into the ound of the Big D‘er company, and oreseeing a comparatively early suspen- sion of operations the controlling stock- holders soid their 1803 shares at $I7 a share to the other company. A dividend of §7 a share remalins in the treasury. There are 2400 shares of stock. With this transaction Massrs, Coleman and Neff retire from the Morning Star. Harold T. Power, manager of the great Hidden Treasure drift mine in that company, becomes president and he Utica company is making large in- vestments in new hydraulic and com- pressed air plants, and among other things has closed the Stickle shaft for re- timbering. The old timbers are to be bunrned for the gold that is in them. In Tuolumne County all the mills closed down during the late dry spell have re- sumed operations and the mining com- munities are happy again. Among the im- mine, which was bonded several months ago to Eastern people. The company has bought the which has displaved large bodies of good ore to a_depth of 280 feet. The shaft will be put down to 800 feet. The Mt. Jeffer- son will In a few weeks have a new ten- stamp mill running on the large ore sup- plies developed. W. H. McClintock is de- Veloping the Goldwin, which gives great promise, and a new power plant is planned. The Mariposa Grant in Mariposa County new owners, who are opening a number of its mines. It is expected that 500 men will be at work next spring. At the Massachusetts, Hill mine in Ne- vada County a plant to use petroleum for fuel Is being installed. The oil boom increases north and west of its storm center in the San Joaquin Valley. Several capitalists and promot- ers are turning to Contra Costa County, where two or three wells are already go- ing down. Near Suisun in Solano Count: they are boring for natural gas as weil as ofl. Wells are ?In‘ down In Colusa County among others. In Humboldt County nearly 000 acres in the Matthole Valley have been taken up in placer claims. There eight locaters have gen- ER LODE GROWTH. erally joined in seeuring joint locations of 160 acres. One combination of people has thus secured control of 4340 acres. From Mono_County comes the report that oil is to be bored for on the islands n Mono Lake. Many locations were filed last week. The filing of forty-five ofl locations in Kern County in one day last week illus- trates the present activity In that region. During the week a tract of 5000 acres oil possibilities in it, between Kern River and Poso Creek, was bought by A. G. Newton of Los Angeles, who will begin boring at once. The reported price was $112,000. The Alcatraz Company has abandoned its well-known Carpenteria and La Patera asphalt mines in Santa Barbara County and will concentrate its energies on its big deposits in the Sisquoc district in that county. When an oll boom is on it is not sur- prising to read the boom announcement that there is grease on the rope at the Blank well which is now belni drilled. With that evidence that oil has been struck the shares will likely go up. The general mining situation in South- ern California {s thus described by the Los Angeles Times: ‘‘Reports from the interior are that the weather this season has been the most favorable for mining operations ever experienced in this south- western region. From all camps comes news of actlvity, the annual assessment work Is being done, prospects are being developed, tailings are being profitably worked over through the agency of the cvanide and other processes and mines that have been allowed to remain ldle through want of the necessary capital to do\'e]og them are agaln being worked, with the result that trade in all branches is being helped thereby. The news is good news all along the llne. The Invo Independent reports the sale of the Barnes & Anderson mine near Cit- rus, in Inyo County, Some picked sam- ples of ore from this mine sent to Los Angeles went over $10,000 per ton in gold. The purchasers of the property are Messrs. Geraux, Phyler and Stewart, and the terms of the purchase are that Barnes and Anderson are each to receive $100 a month for twelve months, and at the expiration of that period $60,000. In the event of failure to comply with these conditions the mine reverts to the origi- nal owners. A report from San_Diego states that the lead mine at Valley Center, owned by Willhite & Hill, named the Surprise mine, is developing into a better prop- erty than was at first supposed. Some San Francisco capitalists have been looking it over with a view to purchas- ing It. £ Johannesburg correspondent of the Los Angeles Mining Review writes thus: “More than twice as much mining Is be- ing done this year in the various camps north of Johannesburg as was being done at this time last year. In the Panamint country and the Argus and Slate ranges to the south of it there is hardly a claim but Is being worked, while several of them are milling ore taken out in devel- opment work. A difficulty that the min- ers {n those sections are still laboring un- der {s the want of teams to haul their supplies from this point. The freight teams hauling to Searles and camps north of that are as busy as they can be, but there are not enough teams to do the work. The freight house here is always fled up with stuff; it seems to come in aster than it can be taken out.” Dennis Searles passed through Rands- burg on his way to the borax works a few days ago and is actively employed with a large force of men preparing to start up the works, sayvs the Randsburg Miner. There is material enough on hand to run some months and during the time the works have been shut down every- thing has been cared for and kept in com. plete order so that it won't he long until the plant will be "5"2‘ in operation. Regarding ofl an ther mining fakes to which California seems no longer a stranger. the Mining and Scientific Press says: “The great industrial activity that now prevails thraughout the United States {s nowhere more marked than in mining of every class. Not only are the precious metals being exploited more gen- erally and more vigorously than ever be- fore, but copper, iron, gquicksilver, lead and zinc mines are being operated to their fullest capacity. OIl, also, is at- tracting attention, particularly in Cali- fornia. This widespread activity, taken together with the creation of trusts and combinations of industrial enterprises, large and small, has proven a great ‘n- centive to many scheming men to seize the passing opportunity and make some- thing out of nothing, and, as a resuilt, the country is flooded with prospectuses of this or that mine or oil well. Nearly all of these alluring pamphlets contain more | or less extravagant statements, but some of them deal in absurdities, and were very evidently written by persons wholly unfamiliar with either " the subject of mining or of ofl boring.” Most of the mines along the mother lode, especially in Tuolumne County, which shut down in September owing to lack of water, have resumed full opera- tion. The sale of the turquoise mines near Vanderbilt, San Bernardino County, to a New York man is reported. The Mountain Copper Company has or- dered a large supply of roofing slate from the El Dorado County slate quarry, which resumed operation some time ago. The largest oil engine ever built for a mining hoist has been erected by a San Francisco firm for the Yellow Aster Min- ing Company at Randsburg. It is a four- cylinder vertical engine of 130 horse- power, and Is calculated to work the hoist to_a possible depth of 2000 feet. Ballast in Inyo County is one of the mining camps enjoying a boom. The ac- tivity in the Panamint district and in the Argus range 18 responsible. J. 0. DENNY. AROUND THE CORRIDORS Thomas Fox of Sacramento is at the Lick. Chiet of Police Gall of Stockton is at the Grand. E. C. Farnsworth of Visalia is a guest at the Lick. L. H. Bell of Carson, Nev., s a guest at the California. W. B. Ambrose, a merchant of Locke- ford, is registered at the Grand. Nat Stewart, Sheriff of Santa Barbara County, is stopping at the Grand. James C. Bennett and wife of Pittsburg, Pa., arrived yesterday and are spending a few days at the Palace. Charles Rayburn, the well-known min- Ing expert, arrived yesterday from Pla- cerville and is at the Occidental. James McDonald, manager of the Stan- ford stables at the Palo Alto stock farm, was among yesterday's arrivals at the Grand. H. H. Sherril, a wealthy real estate dealer of Denver, Colo., arrived in town yesterday and will spend a fortnight at the Grand. i E. 8. Mainhart, a well-known mining man of Grass Valley, Is spending a few days in this city. He is among the guests at the Grand. Addison Powell, who is largely inter- ested In profitable mining enterprises in Alaska, has arrived from Valdez and is registered at the Occidental. George H. Clark, the newly elected Mayor of Sacramento, arrived last night and is stopping at the Lick. Mayor Clark is accompanied by his wife and son. J. C. Walkeér, a Fresno capitalist, with his wife and daughter, who are now at the Lick House, will leave for Honolulu November 15 to spend the winter. O. Hellbron and wife of Sacramento are among the guests at the Grand. Mr. Heilbron is a prominent wholesale dealer in meats at the capital city. Frederick Schaefer, a famovs landscape artist, arrived in this city yvesterday. He has been engaged to palnt the new drop curtain for the California Theater, be- sides several sets of new scenery for that playhouse, —————— Only fools continue to do up-hill work. after they have reached the top. NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVIES. A torpedo boat for the Italian navy has been launched from the yard of Schichom, at Elbin) which is to have a speed of 36 knot The submarine boat Narval launched at Cherbourg October - 20, her keel having been laid June 1 last year. The boat is 105 tons, 1il feet 6 inches in length, 12 feet 2 Inches beam and a speed of 12 knots on the surface, and § | knots when submerged is anticipated. She |Is fitted with four torpedo projectors and will carry two officers and a erew of { nine. | Rear Admiral Betollo, Italy's Minister {°f Marine, recommends that the navy jneeds no larger battle ships than of 800 tons, a size which would make then dis- defense vesse! suit- for such ships he sugge eight ¢-inch, twelve 12 ive 6-pounders, besides Their speed $hould be with coal sufficient for %000 % knots at a 10-knot speed. was A torpedo cruise; launched Oc: vessel is 13 yuden bofler named Agordat was t Castellamara. T fitted with eight Blec d engines of 7500 hors give a speed of knots. . Th = or no wood {in her int fittings, for which s and aluminum have been substituted. Th consists of fourteen 12-pounders, achine guns and two torpedo tub Agordat is the only vessel of her type in the Italian nav | Cordite and smokeles tirely super: nary brown po lin the British The former was | troduced in the e in 1893, and is now used for both 1d small ordnance Its ballistic power is four times that of | ordinary brown powde nd in these days | of rapid-fire guns economy of space and | weight of ammur become of i vital importance. rdite has also been large the land and ammunition 1 over rough roads powdér has en- der | have to be trans ! and mountains, every pound of weight | saved adds so much more to the efficlency of the gun. A few comparisons of the | relative weights of brown powder, used | as the old charges, and that of cordi | now used for ship's guns, will show | gain in using the latter: Thus the | inch, using 29 pounds brown powder | a shell welghing 714 pounds, had a pen | trative power of 184 inches of iron 000 yards. The new 12-inch wire-wound rifle uses nearly 169 pounds of cordite ‘shell welghing 859 pounds and will pe trate 2.4 inches of iron at 2000 yards. Tho Amerfcan 6-inch rifle burns 44 to 47 pounds brown powder, the shell weighs | 100 pounds and has no greater penetration | than the British gun of like caliber which uses a charge of cordite weighing less than 15 pounds. Official data and dimensions of the Japanese battle ship Shikishima, recent- 11y built at the Thames |as follows: Length over alh { length on water line, 400 fe | feet 6 inches; mean d; | inches; displacement, | fitted with twenty-five | and twin-screw engine | horsepower, which gave a recent trial of 19.022 knots contract by over } of Harveyized nici he armor, 1 steel, extends along | the water line from stem to stern, 9 | inches thick in wake of central batte tapering to 4 inches at the ends. Th It extends 5 feet 6 inches below and | feet 8 inches above water line. From | thence to the upper deck the armor is 6 |inches in thickness. The protective deck | flat is 82 inches above the water line and 3% inches thick on the slopes within the citadel, outside of which it is 2 inches thick, and the main deck is 1 inch. The {ciladel. or central battery, is 2 feet in | length, with 6 inch bulkheads at ends, and subdivided between main and upper deck by twelve bulkheads. The battery of four 12-inch 40-caliber guns {are carried in 1i-inch barbettes. and four- teen 6-inch quick-firers "are loc: in elght water-tight casemaftes on the main deck and six casemates on the " upper deck, all protected by €-inch armor and having 2-inch armor backs. The second- ary battery embraces twenty 12-pounders and twelve 6-pounders, in addition to which are five torpedo tubes, four above and one below water. Her normal coal supply is 700 tons, with a bunker capac- {ity of 200 tons, and her complement will number 741, including an admiral and | thirty-eight other officers. The vessel | was built within two years and is now | passing through a series of exhaustive trials on the coast of England. She has turned a circle at full speed in 3 minutes 16 seconds, heeling only five degrees, and the British journals have nothing but praise for what they consider a superior battle ship to any yet built for the Queen’s navy. e e Cal. glace fruit 50c per ib at Townsend's.® e e boilers g 15,000 eed on eding the i Special information supplied daily to business houses and public men by tha Press Clipping Bureau (Allen’s), 510 Mont- gomery street. Telephone Main 1042, * e The Burlington Railroad is talking of conducting a special chicken train once a month. “Mrs, Winslow’s Soothing Syrup” Has been used for fifty years by millions of ‘mothers for their children while Teething with perfect success, It soothes the child, softens the gums, allays pain, cures Wind Colle, regu- lates the Bowels and Is the best remedy for Diarrhoeas, Whether arising from teething or other causes, For sale by druggists in every part of the world, Be sure and ask for Mrs, | Winslow’s Soothing Syrup, Zc a bottle, S ek Tourist Excursions. PERSONALLY conducted Tourist Excursicns, with latest improved Pullman Vestibuled Sleep~ ing Cars, through from California to St. Pau, St. Louls, Chicago and Boston, every Sunday. Wednesday and Friday. Get full information at 628 Market st. 5 e HOTEL DEL CORONADO—Take advantags of the round-trlp tickets. Now only $60 by steamship, including fifteen days' board at how tel; longer s §2 50 per day. Apply at 4 New Montgomery street, San Francisco. —_——— California Limited. SANTA FE ROUTE—Connecting trafn leaves at 5 p. m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sat- urday, giving passengers ample time to see Los Angeles and Pasadena. Finest equipped train and best track of any line to the East: Get handsome folder and full particulars at 23 Market stree —_———— Female bootblacks are increasing rap- | idly in France. They wear a costume not unifke that of the nun: ADVERTISEMENTS. Wasting Are you nervous, restless, pale and easily tired? Per- haps the scales can tell you why. If your weight is below your average, that explains it. : Scott’s Emulsion is a fat- producing food. You soon begin to gain and you kesp on gaining long after you stop taking it. For all wasting diseases, in both young and old, it is the one standard remedy. H . and $1.00, all druggists. BOWNE, Chemists, New York, SCOTT & A